In Germany and elsewhere, coalitions of mainstream parties have made them indistinguishable to many voters and fueled the rise of nationalist demagogy. Our Interpreter columnist warns of an incremental erosion of democracy.

(Above, Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, who said she intended to stay in office until 2021.)

• American and European intelligence officials revealed a tale worthy of a John le Carré novel.

At a Berlin hotel, U.S. spies paid $100,000 to a Russian who had promised information on stolen cyberweapons and kompromat on President Trump. What he provided was unverified and possibly fabricated.

Separately in the U.S., Republican operatives are alarmed about Mr. Trump’s fixation on the Russia inquiry and unwillingness to stay on message ahead of midterm elections. (Over the weekend, he also expressed doubts about the #MeToo movement.)

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Photo

Credit
John Yuyi

• The thing you’re doing now, reading text on a screen, is going out of fashion.

Back Story

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Credit
Philip Montgomery for The New York Times

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens in New York today, an event that bills itself as the World’s Greatest Dog Show. The competition has cultivated a strong following since it opened in 1877 at Gilmore’s Garden, a venue that later became known as Madison Square Garden.

So where did the “Westminster” come from?

In the 1870s, a group of men met regularly at the Westminster Hotel near Union Square. They had an extraordinary affinity for the bar, as well as for dogs, and they decided to put on a dog show.

… They couldn’t agree on the name for their new club. But finally someone suggested that they name it after their favorite bar. The idea was unanimously selected, we imagine, with the hoisting of a dozen drinking arms.

After the Kentucky Derby, the Westminster Dog Show is the second-oldest continuously run sporting event in American history.